Compare and Contrast: Sintered Stones vs. Quartz, what is the best for me?
There are different kinds of materials used for flooring, countertops, tables, and wall panels, with the main categories: natural stone and man-made materials. In this article, we are going to tackle the differences and similarities between sintered stones and quartz even though they fall in the same category: man-made. This is because they are made from different materials even though they have some common ones. These affect the characteristics and properties of each tile.
Quartz’s Characteristics
This kind of tile has very good qualities that many home owners want for hard surfaces in their home due to it being compatible with many of the trending designs. Additionally, it can last for many years and is easy to maintain and care for. They do not also need to be sealed periodically because unlike natural stone, quartz is non-porous so it doesn’t need sealer to keep substances out of its pores.
Quartz is also a very durable and hard material, being 7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, with 10 being the hardest in the scale.
Some of the designs you can incorporate to the quartz style are modern, mid-century modern, minimalist, Scandinavian, industrial and many more.
Sintered Stone’s Characteristics
This type of tile is also very desirable due to its good qualities. It makes your house attractive, compatible with any designs, easy to maintain, and durable.
Sintered stones can be produced in any color, patterns, and even textures, due to it being man-made. These surfaces are produced to mimic natural stone’s appearance like marble.
Additionally, this tile is very hard because of the process it is made from which is called sintering. Sintering is the process of raw materials going through extreme high temperatures to be solidified, hardened, and be a non-porous surface. This makes the stone very hard.
Chemical cleaners can’t penetrate to the surface of sintered stone because it is non-porous. This means that they do not need sealing, and are easy to care for as well.
The Differences Between the Two
Their compositions are different from each other, as sintered stone, as mentioned earlier, is made of raw materials that are combined. Quartz on the other hand is made from raw material quartz, with polyester resin and coloring pigment.
Quartz can tolerate heat that is enough to be used as a kitchen countertop surface, however sintered stones are more heat resistant, that even with a pan of boiling water being directly put on the surface can be done. This is because sintered stone is made from a process that requires intense heat, so even though quartz can be somewhat heat resistant, there are still hotter temperatures it cannot withstand.
Sintered stones are also harder than quartz, that it even requires protocols for handling, fabricating and installing it. These are needed because it being harder, makes it also more brittle compared to quartz. This means that with improperly cutting, twisting it, or jarring it can crack the tile.
Interested in these tiles? You can visit GoldMe’s website and social media accounts to choose from the different variations and types of sintered stones and other tiles!
